CRIME WINE: COUNTERFEITING THE COPPER COIN

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V20 2017 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 20, Number 29, July 16, 2017, Article 23

Dave Schenkman submitted this note about a subsequent gathering with Nummis Nova members Gene Brandenburg and Joe Esposito and their wives. Thanks! -Editor

Saturday Joanne and I spent an enjoyable evening at Gene and Amelia Brandenburg’s home, joined by their grandson, Christian, and Joe and Hope Esposito. Gene had a new Australian red wine for us to try: 19 Crimes, “Each declared by His Majesty to be punishable on conviction by transportation.” The label on the back of the bottle explained that

“Nineteen Crimes turned criminals into colonists. Upon conviction, British rogues, guilty of at least one of the 19 crimes, were sentenced to live in Australia, rather than death. This punishment by “transportation” began in 1788, and many of the lawless died at sea. For the rough-hewn prisoners who made it to shore, a new world awaited. As pioneers in a frontier penal colony, they forged a new country and new lives, brick by brick. This wine celebrates the rules they broke and the culture they built.”

This is well and good, but what were those 19 crimes? As the evening went on, we learned more about them, because one is listed on each cork. For example, number 10 is “stealing fish from a pond or river,” while number 7 is “setting fire to underwood.”

Since there is no way to know what crime is mentioned a cork, we wondered how many bottles one would need to open to get a full set of nineteen. Fortunately, the first bottle Gene opened was the numismatic key to the set. It had crime number 14, “counterfeiting the copper coin.”

The ribs and salads were really great, but I’ll probably remember the wine longer.

What a noble journey of numismatic discovery! The team was willing to drink every last drop if needed to get to the juicy numismatic part. Cheers! -Editor